Treasury says new payment safeguards verified more than $3.7 trillion in federal payments
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department is shifting toward stopping fraud and improper payments before money goes out the door.
What we know
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X that the department has built and deployed new safeguards to stop fraud and improper payments before funds are released. [1]
- Bessent said the safeguards verified more than $3.7 trillion in federal payments over the past year. [1]
- Bessent said Treasury increased Do Not Pay access from 4 percent of programs to 99 percent. [1]
- Not yet confirmed: The post does not say how much fraud or improper payment money the safeguards stopped, how the $3.7 trillion in verified payments was calculated, or which programs and agencies are covered. These figures are Treasury's own and are not independently confirmed.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department is changing how the federal government guards taxpayer money, according to a post on X from the @SecScottBessent account on Oct. 6. [1]
Bessent said the Treasury Department is using better data, stronger controls and advanced technology to stop fraud and improper payments "before money goes out the door." [1]
In the past year, Bessent said, Treasury built and deployed new safeguards that verified more than $3.7 trillion in federal payments. [1]
Bessent also said Treasury increased Do Not Pay access from 4 percent of programs to 99 percent. The post said this ensures agencies have access to the data they need. [1]
Bessent wrote that Treasury is moving beyond "pay and chase" and making prevention the federal government's "first line of defense." [1]
The post did not give figures for how much in fraudulent or improper payments the new controls blocked. It also did not detail what the verification of $3.7 trillion involved.